The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of apparatus for cooling electrical devices or components by means of a flowing medium, preferably but not exclusively water, wherein the potential difference between the electrically conductive components in contact with a coolant or cooling agent appears at auxiliary electrodes which essentially possess the same potential as the electrically conductive components.
Such type apparatus (cf. German Pat. No. 938,197) prevents the appearance of a voltage between the auxiliary electrode and the conductive components to be cooled. Since the auxiliary electrodes are situated closer together than the components to be cooled the removal of current-conducting particles, for instance dissolved anode material, separated oxygen and so forth, predominantly occurs at the auxiliary electrodes. Accordingly, in the first instance electrolytic corrosion also takes place at the auxiliary electrodes, not at the conductive components to be cooled.
The gases, such as for instance H.sub.2, O.sub.2, formed by electrolysis at the auxiliary electrodes, with the state-of-the-art cooling devices are initially transferred to the coolant stream, in order to be then, if desired, removed by means of a filter mounted in the main conduit of the recirculation cooling system. In this connection attention is directed to, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,685.